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How to Answer Secondary Prompts about “Why Us”

Why do you want to come to our medical school?

This is a very common medical school interview question, but it’s also a very common secondary essay question.

Do you fit with the school’s mission?

Medical schools each have a mission. They want to make sure that students fit their mission. 

Whether serving the rural underserved areas or training new physicians who have deeper thinking with an engineering model, why us is a very important question.

Here are some things you need to think about as you’re going through this question.

1. Do your research.

You should do this even before you add the school to your list and apply. But revisit it as you are writing your secondary essays.

Go to the school’s website. 

Unfortunately, a lot of schools have very old websites that haven’t been updated. Do a lot of clicking and digging. Pull up the website and do some research. 

Find them on social media.

You can also pull up their social media. Search on YouTube for videos. 

Pull up the locations on Instagram and see if there are students posting. They may not tag a specific school, but they could be tagging a location. This is a good way to get more in-depth information.

Join school-specific forums.

Look at Reddit and Student Doctor Network. A lot of those sites and forums have school-specific threads. Start asking questions in there. 

Connect with alumni or current students.

If you have friends at that school or you know of any physicians who went to the schools you’re interested in, talk to them. 

Ask them what their experiences were like. What was unique about their school? Maybe there’s something they really enjoyed that you will enjoy as well. If so, this is potentially something you can talk about.

2. Tie it into who you are.

Where most students fail with this essay is they just take the information from the research they’ve done and then just regurgitate it out. But this doesn’t tell the schools anything about you!

Tie this into your experiences and passions.

As you’re doing this research, you have to be self-aware . Know who you are and what your experiences are. Then tie those things into everything else you’ve learned through the research.

If you see that a specific school does a lot of international medicine in Ghana, for instance, and if you’re from Ghana, then you have a connection to that school’s work that most students do not.

Tie this together with who you are as a person. Tie in what you’ve learned through your research with your own experiences, your own passions, and what you really want.  

How are you going to benefit from them?

Tie these in together to show the school how you are going to benefit from those programs and everything else you see they have at the school and that you’re interested in.

How are the schools going to benefit from you?

Talk about how you’re going to contribute to the medical school. How do you see yourself integrating your ideas into their school and moving along the program in these specific directions?

Put yourself into these programs and the different things you find about the school through your research to be able to stand out . 

Show the schools not only that they have this specific program they offer, but why it’s going to benefit you and why you being there is going to benefit them. 

3. Don’t be generic.

You have to avoid being generic when answering this question. You can’t just say they have great facilities because a lot of schools have that. 

Don’t say their school produces great physicians. Every school produces great physicians assuming they put in the work and effort.

Don’t talk about seeing the students being so happy when you visited their school. Students are happy to be at any medical school. They’re in medical school so they’re obviously happy being there. 

Do your research. 

Be super-specific. Don’t be generic. 

Finally, tie this question into who you are. Explain why you’re going to benefit from being at this school and how they’re going to benefit from you.

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Why Us Medical School Essay Example with Writing Tips

Our team of editors have put together a step by step process on how to approach the most common secondary essays . Below is a why us medical school essay example along with the steps to take when writing an effective “why us” response. 

Writing Tips for the “Why Us” Essay

Why Us Essay Example Prompts 

Why Us Medical School Essay Example

Introduction .

While one of the most common medical school secondary prompts, it is also one of the most important. This is your opportunity to convince admissions committees at the med schools of which you applied how or why your values align with theirs . As you can imagine, a well-written essay can potentially influence admissions committees to accept an applicant while a poorly written essay may persuade the reader otherwise. Here are a few tips in order to meticulously demonstrate your medical school candidacy:

Tip #1 Answer the Why Us Prompt

Not all “Why Our School” secondary prompts are created equal. Some prompts will ask how you will contribute to their school while others ask about qualities you have that would further their medical school’s mission. Similarly, while you may have prepared a response for the “Why Our School” question for another school, you must tailor it to what the school is asking specifically . If you do not do so, the school does not have answers to the question they are explicitly asking. Remember, they are asking the question for a specific reason! Also, a general response may lead admissions committees to assume you have one response you use for “Why Our School” secondary essays, forcing them to believe you are not as interested or knowledgeable about their med school.  

Tip #2 Do Your Research and Brainstorming

It is one thing to know what interests you about this school but another to pinpoint the specifics of the school that make it unique . Doing so can show your genuine interest in that school and that you have correspondingly done your research. You may use their website but do some deep digging as well – use YouTube videos, alumni or medical student outreach, or research the geographic location/community for aspects that interest you. Consider the following questions when doing your own search:

• What aspects are important to you when considering a medical school?
• Is there a particular learning structure or curriculum that benefits your learning style? If so, why?
• Is this school near home or family? You might articulate how or why this is important to you and your future medical education.
• What unique aspects interest you about this school? Why?
• Why do you perceive an education at this school would be best for your training? 

Tip #3 Be Specific 

Commonly, students fall into the pitfall of discussing  how the mission statement resonates with them . If the mission statement does, in fact, resonate with you, be sure to discuss why as well as show evidence or examples for how this is true . Often, it is important to be specific about what interests you about the school to demonstrate your enthusiasm and interest. Doing so will increase your likelihood of acceptance as admissions committees are interested in accepting students knowledgeable about the school and willing to represent their school enthusiastically. Is there a club or aspect of the curriculum that interests you? Talk about it! 

Tip #4 Reference Aspects of The Medical School (but do not tell them about their own institution!)

There is certainly a difference between the following:

School X values underserved populations and commitment to community health.

Of particular interest, School X emphasizes underserved communities which has been a passion of mine, evidenced by my involvement in Healthcare for the Homeless.

As you can see, this latter example emphasizes what interests the student about the school while avoiding outright telling the admissions committee a fact about their school.

Takeaways Surrounding the “Why Our School” Medical School Secondary Prompt

Therefore, like any other written aspect of your application, it is important to demonstrate additional details about you as a candidate to paint a vivid picture of who you are. As a result, it is essential to marry what interests you about the school and your own personal qualities or characteristics as opposed to solely discussing one or the other. Here, we want to strive to have the best of both worlds. Be honest and genuine – this is the key. Allowing the reader insight into who you are will give them more information to make a decision about your candidacy for acceptance into medical school. 

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“Why Us” Secondary Essay Example Prompts

Example 1: “Why have you selected the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for your medical education? Please be as specific as possible.” ( Miami Miller School of Medicine )

Example 2: “Why do you wish to attend Meharry Medical College, School of Medicine?” ( Meharry Medical College )

Example 3: “If you are not a Kansas resident, what is your specific interest in applying to the University of Kansas School of Medicine?” ( KU School of Medicine )

Example 4: “In 500 words or fewer, please explain your reasons for applying to the University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine. Please be specific.” ( Jacobs School of Medicine )

Example 5: “Why have you chosen to apply to the Georgetown University School of Medicine and how do you think your education at Georgetown will prepare you to become a physician for the future? (1 page, formatted at your discretion)” ( Georgetown University School of Medicine )

Example 6: “ How will you contribute to the diversity of your medical school class and the University of Virginia School of Medicine?” (Virginia School of Medicine)

Example 7:  “Why have you chosen to apply to CNUCOM? (250 words maximum)” ( California Northstate University )

Example 8: “Please write a s hort essay about why you are applying to the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. We suggest that you limit your essay to about 550 words.” ( Pritzker School of Medicine )

When I signed up for the trip, I never imagined that I would hold a human heart in my hands. My high school field trip to the Hackensack University Medical Center in 2013 was a unique experience to tour different departments in the hospital and ultimately learn about medicine. After setting foot in one of the best hospitals in the New Jersey / New York Metropolitan area, I knew this one-day visit was not enough, and I longed to continue learning here. Six years later, I found myself without a job after the scribe program was closed at Englewood Health by the end of August 2019. However, it was this initial disappointment that led to me finding my current job at Hackensack University Medical Center and returning to an excellent learning environment. By working as a scribe at Hackensack University Medical Center and rotating in the surgical ICU and surgical step-down unit, I was able to work with and learn from top-ranked physicians such as Dr. Sanjeev Kaul, Dr. Javier Martin Perez, and Dr. Saraswati Dayal. What draws me to the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine is the opportunity to learn at some of the best hospitals serving northern, central, and southern New Jersey and from one of the most diverse populations in the nation. By beginning my medical education through Hackensack Meridian Health, the largest healthcare network of the state, and being exposed to an extraordinary range of patients, disorders, and challenges, I believe I can develop the ability to serve and provide high-quality care to patients from different backgrounds and with a variety of needs.

In addition to the excellent clinical opportunities, I am also interested in the unique curriculum of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. During high school, I developed an interest in preventive health and became more mindful of aspects such as nutrition, posture, sleep hygiene, and physical activity. I want to train to be a physician who can effectively educate others to also take control of their own health. For this reason, I am especially interested in the Human Dimension course. Through building relationships and interacting with families in the community, I will better understand the social, socioeconomic, and environmental determinants of health and ultimately learn how to proactively improve others’ lives.  I am also excited about the special 3+1 curriculum that will enable me to customize my fourth year with many possibilities, including research projects, additional clinical experience, early entry into residencies, community service initiatives, and several dual-degree options. Additionally, the smaller class size will cultivate a close-knit community and enhance my learning experience and training overall. I am fortunate that the school is only a 20-minute drive from home, which would enable me to remain close to my support network and thrive in a familiar environment while attending medical school.

Through this response, the student ties in personal experiences and interests initially within not only Hackensack University but the location. Needless to say, the student does not just include the experience or facts about the school without also making it personal to their journey. The student then progresses to discuss specific elements of the curriculum and class size as well as why it interests them. Therefore, from this response, it is immensely clear why this student is applying to this school specifically as well as what unique aspects interest them about this school.

View more Medical School “Why Us” Examples Here.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, examples of good 'why us' essays.

Hi everyone! I'm looking for examples or inspiration for writing a stellar 'Why Us?' essay. Could anyone share their experiences, tips, or successful essay examples? Thanks so much!

Hello! A "Why Us?" essay is your opportunity to showcase your knowledge about the specific college, demonstrate your genuine interest in attending, and prove how you would positively contribute to the campus community. Here are some tips and a general example to get you started:

1. Research the college thoroughly: Familiarize yourself with the college's mission, unique programs, campus life, and academic opportunities. Use their website, social media pages, and information sessions to gather information.

2. Be specific: Include the names of programs, courses, professors, clubs, or campus traditions in your essay. By doing this, you are showing the admissions committee that you've truly taken the time to understand what makes the college unique and how it's the right fit for you.

3. Connect your interests and experiences to the college: Show how your passions and achievements align with what the college has to offer. This can include linking your academic interests with specific programs or departments, discussing how your extracurricular activities relate to corresponding opportunities on campus, or even explaining how the campus environment and location would benefit you.

4. Avoid cliches and generic statements: Be genuine in your writing and refrain from using generic statements that could apply to any college. Focus on personal anecdotes and unique reasons that make a specific college the best choice for you.

You can find some excellent examples of "Why Us?" essays on CollegeVine's blog: https://blog.collegevine.com/why-this-college-essay-examples. The blog also has a post providing further guidance on this kind of essay: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-why-us-college-essay/.

Finally, CollegeVine offers both a free peer essay review service and paid reviews by expert college admissions advisors. Getting a second set of eyes on your essay can help confirm for you that your approach is working, or identify areas for improvement.

Overall, the key to a successful "Why Us?" essay is authenticity, specificity, and a clear connection between your interests and what the college has to offer. Good luck with your essay!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

• Medical School Secondary Essays

How to Ace "Why This Medical School?" Secondary Essay

When writing your medical school admissions essay, you will likely have to answer the “Why This Medical School?” secondary essays prompt. It’s important to know why schools are asking this essay prompt, and how to answer it! Among other tips you’ll come across when learning how to make your medical school application stand out , having a well written, concise essay that expresses your passion and interest in a specific program is key to getting asked for an interview.

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free initial consultation here <<

Article Contents 8 min read

The application process for medical schools can be daunting and stressful, especially if you're not sure about where to apply or what makes one school better than another. There are several components of each application, and in order to land yourself an interview at your top school(s), you’ll need to write enticing essays that follow the instructions of each prompt, and provide relevant details that will help you stand out among other applicants. One question that all applicants will get asked on their applications is, “why this medical school?” or, a similar variation of the question. This essay prompt can help you stand out from the crowd by showing that your interest in attending this school goes beyond just getting an education—you may have ties to the location and city, or researched their program extensively and find it to be the most unique and intriguing for you and your future goals. But what exactly should you include in your “why this medical school” essay in order to stand out? Read on to learn some tips for writing a strong response to this question, and view a few sample essays.

The "why this medical school?" essay is one of the most important parts of your medical school application. The prompt asks you to explain why you want to go to this particular school, and it lets the admissions committee get a deeper sense of who you are an if you’re a worthy of consideration for an interview. This essay allows them to learn more about your personality and interests, so that they can make an informed decision about whether or not they think you’d be a good fit for their program not simply because you wish to attend medical school, but because you’d fit in well, and are passionate about, their specific program.

In other words, if your goal is getting into your chosen medical school as quickly as possible (and what applicant doesn't want that?), then answering this essay well will dramatically improve your chances! This particular essay helps admissions committees weed out candidates who are impartial about which school they attend, and who may not align with their program’s values, culture and structure. Medical programs are competitive, and many are seeking the ‘best of the best’ applicants who demonstrate passion, intrinsic motivation, and determination to attend their program. That is why it’s crucial that you plan out your responses to your each of your prompts and medical school secondary essays throughout your application process. Taking your time, writing authentically, crafting several drafts, revising, asking a trusted individual or seeking medical school admissions consulting for support, and submitting your essays on time are all great ways to ensure your “why this medical school” essay is superb.

Are you applying to UCSD? Check out how to prepare your secondary for this competitive institution!

Your response to “why this medical school” must be genuine, personal, and most of all, convincing. You absolutely do not want to fabricate a response, as if you’re invited to interview, it will be clear that you weren’t honest and authentic in your essay, and this may result in a rejection. You must make your intentions and passion clear, and for eager future medical students, this should actually be quite easy to do!

Ask yourself: “Why do I want to attend this particular school? What do I like about the school and their program? What makes them better than another school with a similar program?” You can write down your thoughts first, or, even record yourself speaking as you share your thoughts with a family member or friend. This can be a good way of starting your writing process if you’re experiencing writers block. Additionally, preparing your essay responses aloud is a good way of indirectly preparing for other common medical school interview questions that will come your way if and when you get invited for an interview!

"Why This Medical School?" Sample #1, 500-750 words

“I recall the first time I knew, with confidence, that I would one day be a doctor. I knew I needed to be a doctor, in fact, because all I’ve ever wanted to do is learn, and help people. When I was seven years old, a child at the playground who had joined in on a game of tag with my friends and I plummeted from the top of the monkey bars and broke her arm. Many onlookers panicked and ran for help, but without hesitation, I ran to the aid of the injured child and comforted her. I knew, somehow innately, how to keep her calm, and the importance of keeping her injury still until help arrived. I felt excited and honored to help in that moment. For the months that followed, many parents complemented me on my composure and expressed how mature I was when all the other children cried and panicked. To me, it only felt natural to be a helper in my community, and to take charge of a situation, so that was when I realized not everybody felt so automatically inclined—or fascinated with—helping injured and ill people. I knew then what path I had to take, and began looking for opportunities to learn more about health care at my school, and in my community. My community is one that is historically underserved, and members of my community are underrepresented in the medical field, and after years of volunteering at various pop-up clinics and detox centers, I’m eager help to change that.

Attending X University Medical School, means I’ll be learning and getting clinical experience in my own community, and will be able to take part in community outreach programs, and eventually, propose my own ideas for outreach. I know first-hand the medical and mental health care support this community surrounding X University is lacking, and, I know the wonderful people who reside in it that make it the incredible place it is. I would be elated to be a part of a renowned learning environment where I could enhance and develop my technical skills, partake in initiatives throughout my program and beyond, and give back to my community by providing compassionate care.

Throughout my time in secondary and post-secondary, I immersed myself in life sciences and sociology—my other favorite subject, which I will receive a double-major in. I started volunteering in various groups and shadowing with other pre-med students in my second year of study, most notably, the local women’s health facility and shelter. There, I learned the importance of accessible care, and came to understand the systemic inequity that exists in healthcare, especially for women and minorities in underserved communities. I was also able to put my understanding of sociology and social systems to use as I helped women navigate next-step programs, whether they were escaping abusive partnerships or recovering from an addiction. As an eager and accomplished self-started, I feel I could bring forth my existing knowledge and passion to help people, and would excel in X University’s interdisciplinary, self-directed components of the medical program. I also look forward to learning alongside a team of likeminded professionals in your clinical, team-oriented experiences offered as both a part of the program, and as extracurricular opportunities. I feel that although there are many medical schools in the state, X University offers the most comprehensive, appealing program to professionals like myself who want to learn the from the best faculty, and apply what I’ve learned throughout my time in your program, and bring the best care to our budding and evolving community when I one day become an MD.”

"Why This Medical School?" Sample #2, 250-500 words

“Attending X University as a medical student means that I would be able to immerse myself into a community renowned for its supportive culture, research alongside incredible faculty, and attend one of the top programs in the country. Because I have a special interest, and experience working with patients with, XYZ, a notoriously under-researched and underfunded area of medicine, I know that X University will provide me with the opportunity to flourish as a future medical professional, and as a future clinical researcher. I have many ground-breaking ideas to explore, and because I’ve followed X University’s research for nearly a decade, I know I would be among like-minded individuals at your institution. Last year, my lab team was awarded the University of Newtown Award for Excellency in Biology and Life Sciences for our project that explored the relation and co-existence between celiac disease and sickle-cell anemia. I enjoyed this extensive research project, and partaking in it only affirmed my dedication and passion for this field of medicine.

My goal as a future medical student it to absorb all learning materials in every form, and take each moment of field experience as both a challenge and an opportunity to shine. Not only will I learn how to best provide care, but to also make the current system better for patients. Whether I do so through my combined passion and knowledge obtained through X University’s program, or through my future research on diseases like XYZ, I will strive to make a difference, and feel the inclusive, non-competitive, supportive learning community at X University is the best place for me access the tools and gain the experiences in order to do so. Because X University has a wonderful reputation for making breakthroughs in the field of medical research, specifically with auto-immune diseases, I am eager and prepared to relocate across the country and begin my professional journey as a member of a prestigious medical school community.”

It might sound like a basic question, but the “why this medical school” essay prompt carries a lot of significance and your response must be well thought out! This prompt is asking you to explain why you want to attend a particular institution, and your response will let the admissions committee understand you, your goals, and get a deeper sense of who you are. This essay will be used to help them assess whether or not you’re worthy of consideration based on your interests, passions, personality, and goals as they relate to the particular medical program you’re applying for.

It isn’t uncommon for students to apply to several medical schools. You likely have one or two ‘top’ choices, but in order to secure a chance of admission, you may apply to your ‘plan B’ schools as well. You should never communicate that a school is not your top choice, but rather, focus on what each school and program offers, what you’ll gain from the experience—should you be accepted and attend—and what makes them unique from other schools. Admissions teams know that many students apply to several schools, so be honest in your answer to the extent of why you want to attend the school, but never state that you are applying because a particular school is “close to home”, “is known for easy admittance”, or “because it’s an option”. Take the time to research and get excited about each school individually before you write each essay.

When drafting and writing your “why this medical school?” essay, and any secondary essay, it’s important that you:

• Stick to a legible, professional and consistent format and font (no colors or creative fonts)
• 1.5-2.0 spacing is always preferred
• Adhere to any specific instructions outlined on your application
• Ensure that you proofread and edit your essay several times to ensure it’s error-free
• This is a personal, professional essay. That means you should write in your own authentic voice, portray yourself as a professional, and include an introduction, body section with appropriate details, and a brief conclusion that reiterates and wraps up your response and prompts the admissions committee to—hopefully—proceed with next steps in your application process.

This can vary by school, and every application is different! In general, most admissions and secondary essays span anywhere from 250-1000 words. Always double check your application/essay instructions and stick as closely to the word count as you can.

Your essay should outline what personal experiences, goals and values you have that align with a particular aspect of the school’s program, culture, reputation, and/or curriculum. You should highlight specific aspects of the medical program that are appealing to you and unique to the school, and detail why this is important to you! This is a brief essay, so it’s best to research and decide on a few key points about the school that are relevant to your interest, and detail them, along with a bit about who you are as a prospective medical school student.

As noted above, this is a brief essay, and schools are trying to get a clear idea of who each applicant is, and why they are interested in their specific medical school program. Avoid detailing irrelevant events, as well as going in-depth about your experience, grades or GPA accomplishments, as a lot of this information was likely already reviewed in your initial application. Along with this, don’t simply regurgitate information from the school’s website! They already know what they offer, so if you’re opting to discuss a specific point, such as a unique curriculum, get specific and detail why it matters to you and aligns with your goals! Finally, it’s important to remember that the admissions team is looking to select candidates with a genuine interest and passion for medicine, and for their school. It’s crucial that your essay is written in your voice, and includes honest details about what entices you about the chosen school specifically.

You may benefit from seeking help from a medical school admissions tutor . The application process, as well as the interview process, for medical school can be extensive and overwhelming! BeMo Academic Consulting can help you prepare for various components of your medical school application by offering 1-on-1 preparatory consulting services to guide you through every step of the application process!

Not always! Although it’s a good sign that the admissions committee has reviewed your initial application and would like to learn more about you, some schools send secondary essay prompts to every applicant, and others opt to send them to applicants whom they have interest in. Because it varies by school, it’s important that you prepare and submit your secondary materials as soon as you can to show that you’re eager and interested in the school!

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How to Write a Stellar “Why This College?” Essay + Examples

What’s covered:, sample “why this college” prompts, faqs about the “why this college” essay.

• Common Mistakes to Avoid

Good “Why This College?” Essay Examples

• Brainstorming for this Essay
• Outlining Your Essay
• Where to Get Your Essay Edited

One of the most common college essay supplements will ask you to answer the question: “Why This College?” These essays are looking to see whether you’re a good fit for the campus community, and whether the college is a good fit for you and your goals. 

In this post, we’ll show you a couple examples of these prompts, go over good and bad sample responses, and break down how to ensure yours is one of the good ones. 

Let’s start by taking a look at real prompts that fit under the “Why This College?” archetype: 

Tufts: Which aspects of the Tufts undergraduate experience prompt your application? In short, ‘Why Tufts?’ (150 words)

Northwestern: Other parts of your application give us a sense for how you might contribute to Northwestern. But we also want to consider how Northwestern will contribute to your interests and goals. Help us understand what aspects of Northwestern appeal most to you, and how you’ll make use of specific resources and opportunities here. (300 words)

As you can see, these prompts are basically asking why you want to attend the school in question. Northwestern spells it out even further, and specifically asks how you’ll use their resources to achieve your goals.

Both prompts have word counts that are much shorter than that of the Common App, which is typical of supplemental essays. These two word counts are pretty representative, and you can expect the “Why This College?” essay length to be 100-400 words on average. That’s not a lot of space for a pretty important question, so it’s especially vital to use the word count wisely.

What are colleges looking for in the “Why Us” essay?

Colleges want to admit students who will not only enroll (to protect their yield), but also thrive on their campus. They ask this question to see whether you’re truly interested in the school and whether it’s the right place for you. You can write a strong response by citing specific ways the college can support your goals, as well as demonstrating your enthusiasm.

Which colleges have a “Why This College?” essay?

This is one of the most popular supplements among colleges. Here is a selection of top schools that ask this question:

• Northwestern
• Boston University
• University of Michigan

Check out our essay guides for these schools for more in-depth advice on how to write these essays.

What kind of writing style should I use?

This is a straightforward question that generally has a short word count, so you don’t need to use a narrative form at all. You can simply explain what you like about the school and why, but try to use varied sentence structure and organize the essay around your major goals. 

You can start your essay with a story if you want, however. For example, if you visited campus and experienced a really interesting course, or sat in on a meeting of a club you liked, this can make for a strong anecdote to begin your essay. Just make sure that whatever story you tell has some substance, and isn’t just a narration of how nice it was to walk around campus.

Can I copy and paste my essay for other schools?

Absolutely not. If your essay is general enough to apply to other schools, you know you need to rewrite it. The resources you mention should be highly specific to the college you’re writing about.

Common Mistakes When Writing the “Why This College?” Essay

The most common mistake students make is listing generic characteristics that could apply to any school. This negatively impacts your application, since it sends the message that you didn’t do your research, and aren’t truly interested in the school.

Here’s an example of something NOT to list in your “Why this college essay.” We’ll take the example of Tufts since we shared the prompt in the beginning.

What NOT to write: I’m applying to Tufts because of its low student to faculty ratio, the strong math department, and its prime location in Medford, just a hop away from Boston. When I visited campus, the school already felt like home.

This example is bad because many schools have low student to faculty ratios and strong math departments. There are also a ton of schools in or near Boston, many of which have low student to faculty ratios and great math departments too, such as Boston College, Harvard, Northeastern, Boston University, etc. If your statements can apply to other schools, that’s definitely not a good sign (avoid things like location, weather, size, and ranking).

The student also uses an emotional appeal with the line “it felt like home,” which might sound nice, but it has no substance and can be written for any school. You should definitely avoid making any statements like these.

This example shows that the student really hasn’t thought much about their fit with Tufts, and that it probably isn’t their top choice. This will impact your application negatively, especially since Tufts is known for taking applicants’ demonstrated interest more seriously than other schools . So, if you show that you show little interest through your essay, you may end up waitlisted or rejected, even if your stats are excellent.

Another thing that this example gets wrong is that it doesn’t describe the student’s goals or interests at all. It’s important to not only talk about why you picked the school, but also how exactly those aspects will help you grow. Remember, this kind of prompt is two-fold: in addition to explaining why the school is a good fit for you, you want to show why you, out of the many thousands of applicants they get each year, are a good fit for them.

To summarize, the main mistakes to avoid are:

• Citing generic aspects of the school (location, weather, size, and ranking)
• Using empty emotional appeals
• Not describing your goals and interests

Now that we know what a bad example might look like, here’s an example of a rewrite to part of the Tufts essay:

What TO write: As a potential Applied Mathematics major, I hope to gain the tools to model political behavior. I’m especially interested in elections, and am looking forward to taking the course “Mathematics of Social Choice,” as the centerpiece of Social Choice Theory is voting. I would also love to take “Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos,” because it will teach me to use differential equations to predict chaotic behavior. 

This is a good example, as the courses listed are highly-specific to Tufts, as well as the student’s professional goals. We not only learned something about Tufts, but also the student. Keep in mind that this wouldn’t be a complete essay⁠—it’s just an example of good, specific resources to list, and how to connect them to your own interests. 

If you want an example of a complete essay, here’s this real student response for Boston University’s “Why This College?” prompt.

Prompt: In no more than 250 words, please tell us why BU is a good fit for you and what

specifically has led you to apply for admission.

Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) attracts me because of its support of interdisciplinary study among its wide array of majors. In fact, the CAS now offers a course that combines biology, chemistry, and neuroscience. As I hope to conduct medical research into brain disorders, I plan to pursue all three areas of study. These cross-disciplinary connections at BU will prepare me to do so.

CAS’s undergraduate research program would allow me to work with a mentor, such as Dr. Alice Cronin-Golomb or Dr. Robert M.G. Reinhart related to their research on neurological disorders. With them, I can advance the work I have already completed related to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). In a summer class at our local university, my partner and I extracted data from fMRI and PET studies and inputted them into a coding program. We then created an indicator map, which we imported into another software program, AFNI, to display significant activity in the brain regions affected by DID. Seeing the representation of our data thrilled me because I knew it could eventually help people who live with DID. I want to experience that feeling again. Successfully analyzing these fMRI and PET studies and learning to code drives me to pursue more research opportunities, and this desire motivates me to study at a university that offers research opportunities to undergraduates. BU’s interdisciplinary approach to psychology and support for independent undergraduate undergraduate research will optimally prepare me for a career as a neurological researcher.

This student clearly outlines BU-specific resources (the interdisciplinary course and undergrad research program), plus how these resources align with their professional goals (to become a neurological researcher). They do “name-drop” professors, but since their work clearly relates to the student’s interests, it doesn’t look disingenuous, and shows that the student has done research on their fit with BU. The student also provides background on why they want to pursue research, and shows that they already have experience, which makes their interest in the undergrad research program more concrete.

The only thing missing from this essay is the student’s fit with BU in terms of extracurriculars and social life. “Why This College?” essays should also cover extracurriculars, as the residential college experience is about more than just class and homework. Admissions officers are also interested in how you’ll contribute to their broader campus community.

In general, these essays should be academic-leaning (especially if they’re under 250 words), but you should still address some social aspects of the college that appeal to you (we recommend about 70% academics, 30% social, with more or less focus on social aspects depending on the word count). Since the student probably already detailed their previous research in their Common App activities section, they could’ve just summarized their research background in one sentence, and used the space saved to talk about a specific social aspect of BU that interests them.

Here’s another sample essay, but for UPenn. This essay’s word count was much longer, so the student was able to really hone in on several specific aspects of UPenn.

Prompt: How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? Please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying (650 words).

Sister Simone Roach, a theorist of nursing ethics, said, “caring is the human mode of being.” I have long been inspired by Sister Roach’s Five C’s of Caring: commitment, conscience, competence, compassion, and confidence. Penn both embraces and fosters these values through a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum and unmatched access to service and volunteer opportunities.

COMMITMENT. Reading through the activities that Penn Quakers devote their time to (in addition to academics!) felt like drinking from a firehose in the best possible way. As a prospective nursing student with interests outside of my major, I value this level of flexibility. I plan to leverage Penn’s liberal arts curriculum to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges LGBT people face, especially regarding healthcare access. Through courses like “Interactional Processes with LGBT Individuals” and volunteering at the Mazzoni Center for outreach, I hope to learn how to better support the Penn LGBT community as well as my family and friends, including my cousin, who came out as trans last year.

CONSCIENCE. As one of the first people in my family to attend a four-year university, I wanted a school that promoted a sense of moral responsibility among its students. At Penn, professors challenge their students to question and recreate their own set of morals by sparking thought- provoking, open-minded discussions. I can imagine myself advocating for universal healthcare in courses such as “Health Care Reform & Future of American Health System” and debating its merits with my peers. Studying in an environment where students confidently voice their opinions – conservative or liberal – will push me to question and strengthen my value system.

COMPETENCE. Two aspects that drew my attention to Penn’s BSN program were its high-quality research opportunities and hands-on nursing projects. Through its Office of Nursing Research, Penn connects students to faculty members who share similar research interests. As I volunteered at a nursing home in high school, I hope to work with Dr. Carthon to improve the quality of care for senior citizens. Seniors, especially minorities, face serious barriers to healthcare that I want to resolve. Additionally, Penn’s unique use of simulations to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world application impressed me. Using computerized manikins that mimic human responses, classes in Penn’s nursing program allow students to apply their emergency medical skills in a mass casualty simulation and monitor their actions afterward through a video system. Participating in this activity will help me identify my strengths and areas for improvement regarding crisis management and medical care in a controlled yet realistic setting. Research opportunities and simulations will develop my skills even before I interact with patients.

COMPASSION. I value giving back through community service, and I have a particular interest in Penn’s Community Champions and Nursing Students For Sexual & Reproductive Health (NSRH). As a four-year volunteer health educator, I hope to continue this work as a Community Champions member. I am excited to collaborate with medical students to teach fourth and fifth graders in the city about cardiology or lead a chair dance class for the elders at the LIFE Center. Furthermore, as a feminist who firmly believes in women’s abortion rights, I’d like to join NSRH in order to advocate for women’s health on campus. At Penn, I can work with like-minded people to make a meaningful difference.

CONFIDENCE. All of the Quakers that I have met possess one defining trait: confidence. Each student summarized their experiences at Penn as challenging but fulfilling. Although I expect my coursework to push me, from my conversations with current Quakers I know it will help me to be far more effective in my career.

The Five C’s of Caring are important heuristics for nursing, but they also provide insight into how I want to approach my time in college. I am eager to engage with these principles both as a nurse and as a Penn Quaker, and I can’t wait to start.

This student takes a creative approach to the essay, by using the Five C’s of Caring as a framework. This technique works especially well since these qualities relate to the student’s future career in nursing. In addition to emphasizing the student’s creativity and passion for nursing, having the Five C’s in all caps at the start of each paragraph gives this long essay a clear, easy-to-read format.

What really makes the essay stand out is the depth of the student’s fit with UPenn, and how they’re able to also share more about who they are. The student lists specific courses, research opportunities, technology, and student groups. We also learn that they are a first-generation student, are passionate about increasing access to healthcare (particularly for LGBTQ+ people, minorities, and the elderly), care about health education, and are a feminist who staunchly defends abortion rights (this controversial topic could be risky, but since UPenn is a very liberal school, this should be fine).

Overall, this essay paints a vivid picture of how the student would engage academically at Penn, and we also see clearly how the student would pursue their intellectual passions outside the classroom. Since this essay prompt focused on “intellectual and academic interests,” there was no need to address other aspects of UPenn beyond those supporting their various interests in healthcare.

See more “ Why This College?” essay examples to understand what makes a strong response.

Brainstorming for the “Why This College?” Essay

Now that we’ve gone through a couple examples, you might be wondering how to get started yourself. 

Here are three steps we recommend to get your essay underway:

• Reflect on your academic and career goals
• Research unique opportunities related to your academic and extracurricular interests
• Pick your top academic reasons for applying, and your top extracurricular/social reasons

1. Reflect on your academic and career goals.

The driver behind this essay needs to be you , and not the school itself. Anyone can write nice things about the college, but only you can explain why you would be a good fit for it.

Ask yourself:

• What do you want to major in, if you know? If you’re undecided, what are the subjects you’re interested in?
• Which career do you want to pursue, or what are the potential options?
• What do you want to get out of college? Any particular skills or experiences?

Once you have a clear idea of your college plan, then you can dig into how the college can support your plan.

2. Research unique opportunities related to your academic, career, and extracurricular interests.

You might be wondering where you can find all these specific courses, clubs, and other resources. The school’s website is a good place to start, or if you have a general idea of what you’re looking for, you can even use Google with the school name in your search, such as “Tufts orchestra.” 

Take a look at the website of your department/major and dig into the courses, fellowships, internships, and other resources. For course syllabi, you can visit the website of the professor who’s teaching the course; they’ll often post more detailed information than the online course catalog, including readings and concepts to be covered.

Clubs may have their own websites, but you can also try to find their Facebook groups or Instagram pages, which might be more current and even show events they’re hosting⁠.

If you can, try to speak with a current student. Your school counselor may be able to connect you with one, or you can also reach out to the admissions office to see if they can connect you. If not, speaking with an admissions officer is also great, or you can try to find day-in-the-life videos on YouTube.

3. Pick your top academic reasons for applying, and your top extracurricular/social reasons.

Once you’ve done your research and found specific opportunities to cite in your essay, pick your top 1-3 academic reasons and top 1-3 extracurricular ones, depending on the word count. Going back to the Tufts essay, the good example we gave actually was already 65 words, and it was only able to mention two courses. 

Keep in mind that you not only have to describe resources specific to the school, but also how they’ll contribute to your goals. This personal aspect is just as important as the actual opportunities, so be sure to allot space to describe why exactly these resources make the school a good fit for you.

When it comes to academic reasons, you are free to list anything from special programs to unique majors to specific courses and professors. We want to caution you against “name-dropping” professors, however⁠—unless their work actually fits with your established interests and professional goals. Otherwise, it might seem like you’re being disingenuous.

We also want to reiterate that you should be sure to not only talk about academics in your essay, but also extracurriculars (unless the prompt asks you to focus only on academics, or if the word count is unusually short, i.e. 150 words or fewer). Again, college isn’t just about what you do in the classroom. Admissions committees want to be sure that accepted students will also contribute to the college community. 

Outlining Your “Why This College?” Essay

Once you’ve identified your goals and the resources to support them, it’s time to start writing. An easy format/outline for your essay would be:

• Introduction to your main goals and the why behind them (great spot for an anecdote). 
• Your first goal and how the school can support it.
• Your second goal and how the school can support it.
• Conclusion where you look towards the future and reaffirm how the college can get you there.

You can adjust the length of the essay by adding or subtracting the number of goals you write about. As noted above, r emember to include extracurriculars when sharing how the college can support your goals. You should plan to spend about 70% of your space on academic reasons, and 30% on extracurricular reasons.

Some students choose to use a more unconventional format, like the Five C’s of Caring essay above, and that works too if you want to show off your creative writing skills. Some examples include a letter to the school or a schedule of your day as a student at the college. These unconventional formats can be harder to pull off though, so only go that route if you’re confident in your writing. The letter format can be especially tricky since it’s easy to sound cheesy and overenthusiastic.

Regardless of the format you choose, remember these two things that your essay should do. It should:

• Reveal more about your goals and interests.
• D escribe how the school can help you develop your interests and reach your goals, by naming highly-specific and unique campus resources, both academic and extracurricular.

If your essay checks both of those boxes, you’re well on your way to making your candidacy more compelling to admissions officers!

Where to Get Your “Why This College?” Essay Edited

Do you want feedback on your “Why This College?” essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Best Ways to Answer the “Why Our Medical School?” Essay

Many students apply to 30+ medical schools in order to play the numbers game, and this fact is no secret to the medical schools themselves.

The medical schools aren’t stupid; they know they’re not your only choice. But it’s your job to convince them that they’re the best choice for you, which hopefully has a reciprocal effect.

With about 47% of medical schools asking the “Why Our Medical School?” essay question, you’ll want to make this essay a focal point in your secondary writing.

This article will help you better conceptualize this popular medical school secondary essay prompt and complete them in both an efficient and compelling way!

What are Some Other Ways of Asking the “Why Our Medical School?” Essay Prompt

Sometimes it’s useful to reframe the question in new ways to help you determine what to address in your answer:

How do you align with the school’s mission and values?

What opportunities or programs would you take advantage of at the school?

How does the school help to bridge your past and your future?

What makes the school a uniquely good fit for you?

What makes the school stand out from others, and why does that appeal to you?

Some Examples of “Why Our Medical School?” Essay Prompts from Medical Schools

You can find all school-specific secondaries through our Savvy Pre-Med School Search Tool !

• “Given the distinctive educational philosophy and integrated curriculum at FSM, describe how your personal characteristics and learning style would fit the institution.” (200 words) - Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine
• “Please write a short essay about why you are applying to the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. We suggest that you limit your essay to about 550 words.” - Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
• “What makes LLUSM particularly attractive to you?” (275 words) - Loma Linda University School of Medicine
• “Throughout your application you have given us a sense of how you intend to contribute to the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix. We would now like to know about how you anticipate the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix will contribute to your goals and passion for medicine. What aspects of our program and community appeals most to you, and how do you plan to make use of specific resources and opportunities here?” (1000 characters) - UA College of Medicine – Phoenix
• “When considering medical schools, what criteria are important to you and how does TUCOM align with those criteria?” (500 words) - Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine
• “Why have you selected the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for your medical education? Please be as specific as possible.” (500 words) - University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
• “If you are not a Kansas resident, what is your specific interest in applying to the University of Kansas School of Medicine?” (1,000 characters) - University of Kansas School of Medicine

What Should You Research for Your “Why Our Medical School?” Essays?

1. Mission Statements: The first place to start would be looking at the medical school’s mission statement. The mission statement usually reflects the values and ideologies that the medical school upholds.

2. Specific Opportunities: Go to the school’s website and find an extracurricular, a part of the curriculum, or a program/project that catches your eye and is unique to the medical school.

3. Location: You could also talk about how the location of the medical school suits your lifestyle well and is a great place to explore your other interests.

4. Faculty or Research Mentors: You could pick a faculty member whom you’d be excited to work with and how important of an opportunity that could be for you.

5. Service and Outreach Avenues: You could mention your interest in the outreach programs that the school is involved in and how these are important to your beliefs.

Want help expediting the research process for “Why Our Medical School?” Essays? Check out our comprehensive “Cheat Sheet” articles:

“Why Our Medical School?” - Cheat Sheet for the Top 25 MD Schools

“Why Our Medical School?” - Cheat Sheet for All California Medical Schools

“Why Our Medical School?” - Cheat Sheet for All Texas Medical Schools

How Different Applicants Can Approach the "Why Our Medical School?" Essay

The first applicant: intrigued by research in the field of oncology

• A family member has been affected by some form of cancer, and through interactions with medical/healthcare professionals they became particularly interested in the field. To return the favor by helping many more families, they proceeded to find universities and medical schools that are equally as passionate about the field as their applicants. 
• The applicant pursued a lot of extracurriculars and volunteer opportunities in their undergraduate years that allowed them to get much more emotionally attached to the field of medicine, specifically oncology. This motivated/compelled them to apply to medical schools that have ample cancer research and renowned cancer centers with the hope of graduating and working in the field as an oncologist.

The second applicant: interested in the study of health and the delivery of health in rural environments

• The applicant incorporated a personal story about how their passions came about and emphasized their observed healthcare disparities in rural areas and how they wanted to do their part to improve accessibility and deliver care to people living in rural environments and bridge the gaps existing in healthcare.
• The applicant explained how they will advantage of the opportunities offered by the medical schools and what they plan to do to fulfill their goals and satisfy their  interests. For example, they emphasized how  entering said medical school will let them take advantage of the Rural Health and Health Disparities course offered by the school and how they plan on taking their learning and understanding to the next level, while also emphasizing what motivated them to pursue this goal in particular and providing examples.

Best Ways to Write a “Why Our Medical School?” Essay Template 

Writing 30 completely original secondaries is a scary thought. To save yourself time, focus on writing great essays for top-priority medical schools, and then use these as templates for all the other secondaries.

Before diving into your prioritized schools, you should definitely check out HOW TO ANSWER “WHY OUR SCHOOL” ESSAYS .

Then use your best answers as formulas for quickly completing the less desired medical schools on your list. The goal will be to create a template that doesn’t look like a template. Try to reuse the material you share about yourself, so that all you have to do is swap in new information about the individual programs.

Let’s say you have 1000 characters. Here’s how you might handle the initial challenge:

Due to my passion for oncology research, I appreciate BLANK MEDICAL SCHOOL’s (BMS) Exploratory Program, which allows new students to incorporate personal benchside pursuits into their curriculum. Under the guidance of Dr. Dream in the Wonderful Lab, I can build off my previous cancer studies while also volunteering in my future specialty of pediatric oncology at BMS Children’s Hospital. After witnessing the dire needs of the poor and homeless at free clinics in college, I would feel honored to work at BMS’s Saturday Clinic for the Uninsured. Many of my experiences have been with terminal patients or in end-of-life care, so I am thrilled at the chance to have a more direct impact through acute, immediate treatments. As an eager, hands-on learner, I value BMS’s early clinical exposure and Specialist Mentoring in the first two years. BMS will allow me to apply my growing expertise toward a new community in need, while also giving me novel opportunities that can hone my future practice. (995 characters)

How to Reuse Your “Why Our Medical School?” Essay Template

In a longer essay, 2-3 sentences can be added to show your personal ties to the location, your relation to alumni, or your interest in continuing an important non-medical activity they offer that matches your background, personality, or prior experiences.

Let’s say you’re writing for a school with a longer limit, maybe 1500 characters. Here’s how you could use your previous answer as a secondaries template :

Due to my passion for oncology research, I appreciate TOKEN MEDICAL SCHOOL’s (TMS) Cancer Center, which houses breakthrough studies in T-cell isolation and customized vaccines. Under the guidance of Dr. Smart in the Brainiac Lab, I can build off my previous cancer studies while also volunteering in my future specialty of pediatric oncology at TMS Youth Hospital. After witnessing the dire needs of the poor and homeless at free clinics in college, I would feel honored to work at TMS’s Student-Run Clinic for the Underserved. Many of my experiences have been with terminal patients or in end-of-life care, so I am thrilled at the chance to have a more direct impact through acute, immediate treatments.

As an eager, hands-on learner, I value TMS’s early clinical exposure and Equal Partner Teaching during the first two years . TMS is located in Tokenville, a community near my hometown, and I would be honored to return there and serve the populations who helped raise me. Being near extended family will provide a great support system for me while adjusting to the rigors of medical school. Since I have always used my athletic hobbies to destress and stay sharp, I am excited to partake in the TMS Fitness Club during my rare free time. TMS will allow me to apply my growing expertise toward a familiar community in need, while also giving me novel opportunities that can hone my future practice. (1398 characters)

Always think about what you can reuse across schools to make the overall application process easier. If you utilize a secondary template, then the only real burden is doing research for each school and making a list of what to include about them in your essays.

For more guidance, check out our 5 TIME-SAVING STRATEGIES FOR WRITING MEDICAL SCHOOL SECONDARY ESSAYS .

We hope this guide has been helpful!

Upcoming Online Classes

All work on this site is our own. The content for the Savvy med school search was found on the webpages of the respective medical schools.

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MIT study explains why laws are written in an incomprehensible style

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Legal documents are notoriously difficult to understand, even for lawyers. This raises the question: Why are these documents written in a style that makes them so impenetrable?

MIT cognitive scientists believe they have uncovered the answer to that question. Just as “magic spells” use special rhymes and archaic terms to signal their power, the convoluted language of legalese acts to convey a sense of authority, they conclude.

In a study appearing this week in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the researchers found that even non-lawyers use this type of language when asked to write laws.

“People seem to understand that there’s an implicit rule that this is how laws should sound, and they write them that way,” says Edward Gibson, an MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences and the senior author of the study.

Eric Martinez PhD ’24 is the lead author of the study. Francis Mollica, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, is also an author of the paper .

Casting a legal spell

Gibson’s research group has been studying the unique characteristics of legalese since 2020, when Martinez came to MIT after earning a law degree from Harvard Law School. In a 2022 study , Gibson, Martinez, and Mollica analyzed legal contracts totaling about 3.5 million words, comparing them with other types of writing, including movie scripts, newspaper articles, and academic papers.

That analysis revealed that legal documents frequently have long definitions inserted in the middle of sentences — a feature known as “center-embedding.” Linguists have previously found that this kind of structure can make text much more difficult to understand.

“Legalese somehow has developed this tendency to put structures inside other structures, in a way which is not typical of human languages,” Gibson says.

In a follow-up study published in 2023, the researchers found that legalese also makes documents more difficult for lawyers to understand. Lawyers tended to prefer plain English versions of documents, and they rated those versions to be just as enforceable as traditional legal documents.

“Lawyers also find legalese to be unwieldy and complicated,” Gibson says. “Lawyers don’t like it, laypeople don’t like it, so the point of this current paper was to try and figure out why they write documents this way.”

The researchers had a couple of hypotheses for why legalese is so prevalent. One was the “copy and edit hypothesis,” which suggests that legal documents begin with a simple premise, and then additional information and definitions are inserted into already existing sentences, creating complex center-embedded clauses.

“We thought it was plausible that what happens is you start with an initial draft that’s simple, and then later you think of all these other conditions that you want to include. And the idea is that once you’ve started, it’s much easier to center-embed that into the existing provision,” says Martinez, who is now a fellow and instructor at the University of Chicago Law School.

However, the findings ended up pointing toward a different hypothesis, the so-called “magic spell hypothesis.” Just as magic spells are written with a distinctive style that sets them apart from everyday language, the convoluted style of legal language appears to signal a special kind of authority, the researchers say.

“In English culture, if you want to write something that’s a magic spell, people know that the way to do that is you put a lot of old-fashioned rhymes in there. We think maybe center-embedding is signaling legalese in the same way,” Gibson says.

In this study, the researchers asked about 200 non-lawyers (native speakers of English living in the United States, who were recruited through a crowdsourcing site called Prolific), to write two types of texts. In the first task, people were told to write laws prohibiting crimes such as drunk driving, burglary, arson, and drug trafficking. In the second task, they were asked to write stories about those crimes.

To test the copy and edit hypothesis, half of the participants were asked to add additional information after they wrote their initial law or story. The researchers found that all of the subjects wrote laws with center-embedded clauses, regardless of whether they wrote the law all at once or were told to write a draft and then add to it later. And, when they wrote stories related to those laws, they wrote in much plainer English, regardless of whether they had to add information later.

“When writing laws, they did a lot of center-embedding regardless of whether or not they had to edit it or write it from scratch. And in that narrative text, they did not use center-embedding in either case,” Martinez says.

In another set of experiments, about 80 participants were asked to write laws, as well as descriptions that would explain those laws to visitors from another country. In these experiments, participants again used center-embedding for their laws, but not for the descriptions of those laws.

The origins of legalese

Gibson’s lab is now investigating the origins of center-embedding in legal documents. Early American laws were based on British law, so the researchers plan to analyze British laws to see if they feature the same kind of grammatical construction. And going back much farther, they plan to analyze whether center-embedding is found in the Hammurabi Code, the earliest known set of laws, which dates to around 1750 BC.

“There may be just a stylistic way of writing from back then, and if it was seen as successful, people would use that style in other languages,” Gibson says. “I would guess that it’s an accidental property of how the laws were written the first time, but we don’t know that yet.”

The researchers hope that their work, which has identified specific aspects of legal language that make it more difficult to understand, will motivate lawmakers to try to make laws more comprehensible. Efforts to write legal documents in plainer language date to at least the 1970s, when President Richard Nixon declared that federal regulations should be written in “layman’s terms.” However, legal language has changed very little since that time.

“We have learned only very recently what it is that makes legal language so complicated, and therefore I am optimistic about being able to change it,” Gibson says. 

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💀 Secondaries Burnt out from "Why us?" essays ( self.premed )

submitted 1 month ago by [deleted]

• 31 comments

Want to add to the discussion?

Post a comment!

[–] Alucardpirates 208 points 209 points 210 points 1 month ago   (12 children)

I am going to be the best free clinic volunteer known to medicine after pre writing all my why us essays

[–] RussCabbage 51 points 52 points 53 points 1 month ago   (8 children)

me Googling the school name + “free clinic” to plug the name into a sentence

[–] Alucardpirates 24 points 25 points 26 points 1 month ago *   (6 children)

School name + community outreach program. Talk about how I’m a licensed medical interpreter working with underserved populations. This will allow me to seamlessly fit in with X clinic/program at your school! How neat! A plz? Lmao I’m getting sick of saying it over and over

[–] Smart-Hair-1813 2 points 3 points 4 points 1 month ago   (5 children)

Neat. What language?

[–] Alucardpirates 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (4 children)

Spanish. Non native speaker which is kinda cool too I’m okay in itlanian as well but not nearly as strong as Spanish

[–] Smart-Hair-1813 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (3 children)

Same! I’m also a Spanish non-native speaker. Learned in school. Has definitely been a very useful clinical skill to have.

[–] Alucardpirates 1 point 2 points 3 points 1 month ago   (2 children)

Yeah took it from 5th grade to graduating with a degree in Spanish philology and bio med engineering. 2022-2023 I lived in Spain for the year and honestly I would go back tomorrow if I could lol

[–] Smart-Hair-1813 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

Have you thought about applying to medical schools in Spain?

[–] Alucardpirates 1 point 2 points 3 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Unfortunately no. The pay to QoL is way way lower in Spain. And they’re very tough to get into because they want to do home grown in a sense. Most schools will let you do a year or a semester but not the full training

[–] PrudentBall6 GAP YEAR 1 point 2 points 3 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

[+] [deleted] 1 month ago   (2 children)

[–] Alucardpirates 5 points 6 points 7 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

This or global health programs since I lived abroad for a year and did research/worked in a hospital(I did cancer research in a literal makeshift room on the oncology unit lol). I will take every opportunity to provide work with X global program to care for underserved communities abroad. O can probably find this exact sentence in 10-12 schools

[–] silliest_gewse 114 points 115 points 116 points 1 month ago   (3 children)

Don’t forget the equally unique mission statements that emphasize service, research, and clinical skills to serve patients!!

[–] EgyptianSarcophagus 22 points 23 points 24 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

No seriously what else can you talk about

[–] Excellent-Season6310 APPLICANT 4 points 5 points 6 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Rules for me but not for thee. #plagiarism

[–] Dodinnn MS1 5 points 6 points 7 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Medical schools: “We hate generic personal statements that say things about liking science and wanting to help people”

Also medical schools:

[–] Extra_Ad9031 54 points 55 points 56 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

like i’m sorry but they all sound the actual same… the only part that’s unique to them all is their location

[–] Dodinnn MS1 1 point 2 points 3 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

We, unlike all those OTHER medical schools, will create physicians who are both clinically skilled AND compassionate!

[–] SauceLegend APPLICANT 40 points 41 points 42 points 1 month ago   (2 children)

I’m so tempted to just say “if I go there I become doctor which is why I want to go there”

[–] vantagerose APPLICANT 5 points 6 points 7 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

“Your esteemed institution grants medical degrees, and I am greatly interested in obtaining one. Also I’m fine with you gouging my wallet out of hundreds of thousands”

[–] elibenaron 4 points 5 points 6 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

[–] this_is_beans1 ADMITTED-MD 38 points 39 points 40 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

YES! Applied last cycle and honestly I just wanted to write, “I want to be a doctor, I don’t care where I go. You all know this, stop making me make up a BS reason why I love your curriculum and vision.” All curriculum is very similar and all mission statements are essentially the same, we just want to be doctors

[–] FooodNerd 39 points 40 points 41 points 1 month ago   (2 children)

Tbh at this point medical schools should be convincing us why we should choose them since we are paying to even be considered and they all sound the same

[–] ItsReallyVega 7 points 8 points 9 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

"We have a medical school, you need one, now jump"

[–] FooodNerd 2 points 3 points 4 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Desperate pre-med: *convinced*

[–] Independent-Koala641 30 points 31 points 32 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

literally. im so over it

[–] InsideAd1368 16 points 17 points 18 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

For me it’s how the mission statements can almost be interchanged smh… like bro ur school’s statement isn’t unique😭

[–] mizpalmtree APPLICANT 3 points 4 points 5 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

i love compassionate, patient- and family-centered care

[–] Torque-Me MS1 9 points 10 points 11 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

im going to play devils advocate here and say thats although it is extremely tedious, it pays off to do your research and have a good answer to this for each school. So when you get that II you already have a solid foundation to an answer prepared

[–] _-ham 2 points 3 points 4 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

No reason. I dont care about your programs deep cultural values I just want to get in somewhere

[–] AutoModerator [ M ] 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

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To Premeds: General Advice on Personal Statements

• Thread starter Alejandro
• Start date May 4, 2015

• May 4, 2015

Full Member

Great post! I especially agree with point #3. -Bill  

CaliforniaDreamer

These are wonderful suggestions! I would also recommend not trying to shoehorn in some torturous analogy, like about how the time you got sunburned on vacation made you realize how much pain the people of the world are in and thus motivated you to become a doctor.  

Alejandro, according to the last post, you're listed as available. Is this incorrect?  

TheRhymenocerous

I second every one of these suggestions! I would add that people should spend more time on their introductions. I read a lot of statements that start off with a jumble of thoughts or anecdotes that don't give the reader any sense of where the piece is going. The first few lines set the tone for the whole statement, so they should be as strong and as clear as possible. Don't try to cram your family history, your research experience, and a memorable interaction with a patient into one paragraph. Choose the strongest one, or whichever leads into the rest of your essay best, and flesh it out. Oh, and read your statement to yourself out loud! You'll catch a lot of grammatical errors that way and should be wary of writing anything you feel uncomfortable saying out loud. It's much better to sound like yourself (albeit the best version of yourself) than to use impressive words and it's usually pretty obvious when someone is using words they aren't used to using. That can also help you identify issues with flow and continuity – if it feels jumpy to you, it's going to be even jumpier to your reader who doesn't have any of the context.  

42% Full Member

Excellent work @Alejandro . It's unfortunate that people have to be reminded of basic PS writing and etiquette, but I decided to spread your message by linking your thread in my signature.  

tick_tock400

I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING. More points: 7) PLEASE ADDRESS WHY MEDICINE. I CANNOT STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS. SOOOOO many of the personal statements I've been receiving do NOT ADDRESS THIS. Why medicine? When did your interest start? How did it cultivate? Why medicine as opposed to any other field? For instance, you may say you have an interest in healthcare disparities, but then why not become a healthcare advocate or study public policy? You may say you like helping people-- but then why not become a teacher or a nurse? PLEASE ALSO DO THIS FROM THE START. Too many PS's don't even address this until midway through or (gasp) NOT AT ALL! 8) PLEASE BE CONSISTENT. A lot of people are starting off saying they wanted to go into medicine for such and such reason, but then NOTHING in their personal statement ever hints back to that idea again. Have a theme (or several themes-- i.e. compassion, service, leadership, etc) and follow through on those ideas THROUGHOUT your PS. 9) TALK ABOUT YOU. In many of the PS's I keep reading, the author just talks about someone they admire or something-- I've read ENTIRE PS's where the author does not address himself/herself EVEN ONCE! This WHOLE PS is supposed to be about you. Don't tell me what a doctor does. Don't tell me what you admire in someone else. Don't tell me how you hated a doctor for doing this. TELL ME ABOUT YOU. WHY SHOULD I WANT YOU. WHY ARE YOU SPECIAL. 10) NO AMCAS ACTIVITY SECTION REPEATS!!!! I'm saying what Alejandro already said, BUT I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. You already have space in your activities to talk for TWO paragraphs about why a certain activity was significant to you or special! If you don't have two paras, you at least have one! Most of the writers I've read have wasted soooo much space on their PS writing this-- and when I cross this off-- it's like their entire PS is gone! 11) MAKE ME WANT YOU. PLEASE MAKE ME WANT YOU. Please show me that I want YOU-- not your mom, your teacher, a doctor you shadowed, a patient you had, etc. Please show me what makes you special. Please don't tell me a sob story, unless you are a vital player in that story and how you overcame something. I want to see YOU. You as RELIABLE, CARING, INTELLIGENT, REFLECTIVE, ADMIRABLE. Remember, adcom members only interview up to ~10% of all applicants max out of thousands of applications-- make yourself be in that special percentage!  

takeonme said: Alejandro, according to the last post, you're listed as available. Is this incorrect? Click to expand...

Australopithekus

Alejandro said: Okay, so I’m exhausted as heck but had a chance to go through about 10 personal statements recently, and I can say that here are some common issues that we see in essays (as I’ve talked to peers, other admissions members, and the like): 1) Numero Uno: On SDN: If a reader says they are UNABLE to read your PS, DON’T SEND THEM A MESSAGE! Thus, if you’re curious on why I haven’t responded to you, think about it: I keep the thread updated saying, I cannot read it. But you still send it. What does that mean? 1) You don’t keep good attention to detail. I have checked that thread multiple times to confirm i’m on the unavailable side. 2) You’re just plain rude. If I had known this about you if I interviewed you at my school, I’d immediately cut the interview. Simple as that. Please be professional and respect the time of us readers. Please. (I’m taking time out of my board study time to read essays…and I wish there would be a baseline level of respect here.) If i'm wrong here, please let me know. I've seen the thread over 3 times with my update and i seriously thought i was delusional when people kept sending me stuff when i saw myself as unavailable. 2) Please stop saying, it has been a dream of mine to go to medical school, or I’ve always wanted to be a doctor when I was little. It is unbelievably tacky because: Every. Single. Person. Writes. This. I’m going to barf. (when I’ve talked to people who sit on admissions committees complain about this, I thought they were lying. OMG NO THEY WEREN’T) 3) Show, not tell. HOLY COW this is so important. When you talk anything about yourself, like “you learned to be empathetic,” or “learned to be compassionate,” don’t say that and instead, SHOW how you became empathetic and or compassionate. Talk about a patient encounter you had where you interacted with him/her and you two connected well. Or how you helped someone in their time of need. Reflect on that experience. If you are too concerned that ‘omg I can’t put everything in then,’ chill out. Your personal statement is not supposed to be a resume dump. 4) Going from the last point—do not resume dump. What do I mean by this? I don’t want you to just write that you volunteered at a hospital, gave people blankets and the like. And then you volunteered at a clinic and helped with paperwork. And then you received this award. THAT IS WHAT AMCAS IS FOR. YOU LIST YOUR ACTIVITES AND DESCRIBE WHAT YOU DID. YOU HAVE LIMITED REAL ESTATE FOR YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT, AND ITS YOUR CHANCE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT IS PERSONAL OR REFLECTIONS ABOUT A FEW EXPERIENCES THAT CONVERGE ON A COMMON THEME/THESIS FOR WHY YOU WANT TO GO TO MEDICAL SCHOOL. WHY WOULD YOU WASTE THAT ON BEING REDUNDANT? 5) Please do not write literally a story. Focus on a theme and run from it there. If you write a story, it becomes very easy to resume dump as said above. Without any meaningful reflection, its worthless. However, how does one have space to write a meaningful reflection? Choose a few parts and write more deeply about them, instead of just writing every single life event possible in chronological fashion. Nobody cares about what happened ‘in between’. Focus on the important, impactful stuff. PEOPLE USE CHRONOLOGY AS A CRUTCH AS A MEANS TO KEEP A STORY FLOWING. WE DON'T WANT TO SEE EVERY SINGLE THING YOU DID EVERY SINGLE MONTH/YEAR/ETC. INCLUDE WHAT IS IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT TO YOUR THEME. 6) Please write professionally. Use the word physician, probably more frequently than doctor (although its fine). But more importantly, refer to people as individuals, people, persons, but never write ‘guy’. Its just too casual for this purpose. To my fellow peers, any other pieces of wisdom that you would generalize to share? or any opposing opinions? Feel free to add to this! @benmarker , @PlaqueBuster , @onceawolverine , @eatingcake , @MPB , @TheRhymenocerous , @moonjelly , @Australopithekus , @Avocado8 , @hellanutella , @canuckinusa , @tick_tock400 , @slippytoad , @Gsb653 , @soccerusa , @Hippogriff , @CaliforniaDreamer , @Relax! Click to expand...

Great recommendations. My only add to #3 and #4: Show your experiences without reciting your resume (no need to give the 15-word-long name of your research internship and hospital...), and REFLECT on experiences: what did you take away from them? Unless there's a significant answer to that question, the experience doesn't belong in your PS. Lots of PS's bring in random research or hospital volunteering and become VERY obvious that the writer did them only to check off boxes. Thanks for putting this together, @Alejandro !  

Some priceless gems from William Strunk and E.B. White: Omit needless words. When a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Use definite, specific, concrete language. Avoid fancy words. Be clear . (We know you're smart. Don't use a five-syllable word just to show you know it.)  

This is the best thing I have ever read regarding PS writing. This should be stickies like times a million. The way I tried to think of my PS was with a central message. So incorporate both the reasons for your desire for medicine and why you would be an excellent fit. Then use 2-3 examples that illustrate your point. When it comes to including examples and things less is almost always more in terms of both description and the number of examples. The most important thing is not what you did, but instead what you learned and in turn how this has prepared you to become a physician. The other big thing is to make sure you come across as having a realistic vision of the field. Saying you "want to save lives" or "change the face of medicine" seems to scream naïveté. Instead, it sounds much more realistic and well thought out to say "I want to help relieve the burden of disease in my patients and alleviate some of their suffering." I think the other thing which is kind of hard to pin down is the amount to which your PS sounds self centered. I know this seems counter intuitive as the PS is obviously about you, but you want to make that true without making it seem like your life has been all about you. It's important to remember that medicine is about serving the suffering. I think a great PS should emphasize that.  

Membership Revoked

Don't be afraid to just start writing. It's much easier to edit a draft on paper than one in your mind. Don't use PS to explain your bad grades, IA...etc. avoid narrating movie scenes - ones with sirens blaring, CPRs in full throttle, and tears of sadness/joy as you fail/succeed in saving a grandma/infant.  

hoihaie said: Don't be afraid to just start writing. It's much easier to edit a draft on paper than one in your mind. Don't use PS to explain your bad grades, IA...etc. avoid narrating movie scenes, ones with sirens blaring, CPRs in full throttle, and tears of sadness/joy as you fail/succeed in saving a grandma/infant. Click to expand...

Lord Osis said: Maybe the word 'should' was too strong. Personally, I was asked a couple of times 'why MD not DO?' during my interviews, and I thought it's a good idea to nail this down to begin with. Click to expand...

Tired said: I would be fascinated to know (1) what MD schools asked that, (2) if you were asked by DO staff at an MD instotution, and (3) whether you have borderline scores or said something to prompt this question (used the word holistically anlot, talked about manipulation, something like that)? Click to expand...

Australopithekus said: My most important tip: Define yourself by what makes you unique. I don't care that you did well in pre-med coursework; we all did. I don't care that you love science; we all do. You want to help people? That's fantastic, but so does every other pre-med. Write about something that sets your statement apart from the other 15 sitting in my inbox. I should want to meet you after reading your statement. Click to expand...

@Bermie ==> 1. GPA & MCAT are super important, but they aren't everything. A lot of people have the same stats (and let's face it) a lot of the same EC's too (shadowing, volunteering, tutoring, maybe a publication or two, etc). A lot of PS's sound the same to adcoms, and yours might not be that special PS, but you want to at least look like you've taken effort into writing it (so you've taken the effort to showcase yourself, your talents, the answers to those whys), as a LOT of people who apply put in loads of effort (I ended up at 60+ drafts; my friend at 35+). The PS takes effort, and even if you don't sound unique (and honestly, what's really unique to a person who reads 10,000s of PSs annually), you should at least look like you care enough about medical school to have given it effort. Also, my stats were pretty average and my EC's were too, yet I got a TON of interview invites, a full merit scholarship to med school, and plan to matriculate to a top 10 med school in the Fall. So yes, I truly believe putting effort into your PS can go a long way.  

Thanks @tick_tock400 . My question isn't really about effort though. I have and I will continue to put a ton of effort into writing it. My point isn't to say that writing a unique PS is too much work but rather that in an attempt to sound unique, I might just come across as "attempting to sound unique" and it be interpreted as cliche, weird, crazy etc. My friend's advice wasn't to say it doesn't really matter but more that sometimes people try so hard to stand out and be unique it might actually end up hurting them. Does this make sense?  

What is wrong with saying that "you've wanted to be a physician since you were young" or something along those lines?  

TurkDorian said: What is wrong with saying that "you've wanted to be a physician since you were young" or something along those lines? Click to expand...

Bermie said: I'm getting some conflicting advise on the general approach to writing my PS. Much of this information is very valuable and I am very appreciative. I am having a hard time finding a balance between these two thought processes. Click to expand...

Bermie said: Thanks @tick_tock400 . My question isn't really about effort though. I have and I will continue to put a ton of effort into writing it. My point isn't to say that writing a unique PS is too much work but rather that in an attempt to sound unique, I might just come across as "attempting to sound unique" and it be interpreted as cliche, weird, crazy etc. My friend's advice wasn't to say it doesn't really matter but more that sometimes people try so hard to stand out and be unique it might actually end up hurting them. Does this make sense? Click to expand...

familyaerospace

Alejandro said: Okay, so I’m exhausted as heck but had a chance to go through about 10 personal statements recently, and I can say that here are some common issues that we see in essays (as I’ve talked to peers, other admissions members, and the like): Click to expand...

@familyaerospace , nice blog! Lots of good tips there. thanks for contributing!  

hmockingbird

Lawper said: Because it's cliched and tacky as mentioned in the OP. There should be better, individualized reasons why you are interested in medicine. Click to expand...

X Addressing "I want to be a doctor since birth" idea I think saying that one was determined to become a doctor since birth is WEIRD. To me, that just sounds like you found an idea (or your parent pushed you into it), and you stuck to it. If that is true for you, I'd prefer you write something like interest was cultivated at a young age and fortified by etc etc experiences! X Addressing sounding unique idea @Bermie Also, in terms of sounding unique, I think you just need to sound like a caring, intelligent, passionate person. "Unique" is way too ambiguous of a term, and I highly doubt most people sound unique considering how many different experiences we all have!  

Australopithekus said: I didn't mean 'unique' as an absolute, since with 50,000 other applicants, some will have similar experiences to yours. What I meant is that you should avoid discussing experiences which define you as a pre-med student rather than an individual. For example, I've read many statements which highlight the applicant's success in school and their love for science classes. Those are good things, but they are true of nearly every applicant. They characterize pre-med students categorically, rather than adding to the reader's understanding of the author as a person. Click to expand...

Alejandro said: Part of what you'll find is that you need to tread the waters carefully. Click to expand...

DokterMom said: The statement itself is merely common. Not horrible. But not informative either. So WHY did you want to become a doctor when you were very young? So you could make babies cry giving them shots? So you could take the little girl's clothes off and see what was underneath? So you could eat all the lollipops you wanted and hoard the cool band aids? So you could fix boo boos? Some reasons are much better than others. And yeah, presumably they will have changed over the years... Click to expand...

f4reignbeauty

Nature lover <3.

Alta California

a digivolving wolf

Going off on the "wanting to be a physician since birth" tangent, what about the opposite: being put off or not interested in pursuing medicine until recently? On the other hand, I've always enjoyed and had talent in drawing and writing. I attended a high school that specialized in visual and performing arts and traditionally prepared its students for a career in such fields. For a long time I thought I was set to be a freelance illustrator or author. Sometime between my senior year of high school and 1st year of undergrad, I did a 180 and decided to take on the prereqs in addition to an English major. Fast forward to now and despite the challenges, I haven't regretted it so far. I'm curious to hear opinions about this. Is this something I could somehow incorporate into the PS?  

Garurumon said: Going off on the "wanting to be a physician since birth" tangent, what about the opposite: being put off or not interested in pursuing medicine until recently? On the other hand, I've always enjoyed and had talent in drawing and writing. I attended a high school that specialized in visual and performing arts and traditionally prepared its students for a career in such fields. For a long time I thought I was set to be a freelance illustrator or author. Sometime between my senior year of high school and 1st year of undergrad, I did a 180 and decided to take on the prereqs in addition to an English major. Fast forward to now and despite the challenges, I haven't regretted it so far. I'm curious to hear opinions about this. Is this something I could somehow incorporate into the PS? Click to expand...

@Garurumon a lot of people have decided to go into medicine relatively recently (like within the past at least 1 or 2 years)-- but no one has a "complete 180" they always like interacting with people (for the most part) and have great qualities that they should emphasize. You could talk about your previous experiences helping you mature, but realizing later that your passion is something in the health sciences. Again, no such thing as a "complete 180"-- just describe the journey and state clearly that you discovered that your passion lies in medicine (phrasing this anyway you want)  

tick_tock400 said: @Garurumon a lot of people have decided to go into medicine relatively recently (like within the past at least 1 or 2 years)-- but no one has a "complete 180" they always like interacting with people (for the most part) and have great qualities that they should emphasize. You could talk about your previous experiences helping you mature, but realizing later that your passion is something in the health sciences. Again, no such thing as a "complete 180"-- just describe the journey and state clearly that you discovered that your passion lies in medicine (phrasing this anyway you want) Click to expand...

• May 5, 2015

hoihaie said: Don't be afraid to just start writing. It's much easier to edit a draft on paper than one in your mind. Click to expand...

Also...hope I didn't violate some policy about endorsing products haha.  

Doing this made my writers block go away by making me realize the kind of highlights form my life that med schools wanted to read about and how they should be presented. After doing this it took me two days to write my PS. Analyze 10+ example PS's from multiple different schools/sources for what made them so great (some school's will even give examples of the best PS's they've ever received). This should be in-depth analysis with special attention to how the writer made you think "this student was made for med school." After this you will have a pretty good idea of what they're looking for. Note: don't plagiarize!!!! I'm sure you can find better examples but here are a few (some are residency PS's but are just as useful): MCW Stanford CMU  

elsafromfrozen

• May 7, 2015

Nice summary! Can you help me take a look at my PS?  

NeuResurgens

Under point 11. Isn't "unique" somewhat of an overemphasized topic in medical school admissions? I have heard Adcoms say that unique is not such a concern as a propensity to be a good physician. Perhaps an emphasis on uniqueness in writing style rather than use of the term generally would be more productive. After all, adcoms do care that their matriculants do well in their premed coursework, love science and want to help people. What is needed is a more unique way of expressing these ideas, not an avoidance of these topics because they're "cliche." They're oft talked about for a reason!  

UNMedGa said: Under point 11. Isn't "unique" somewhat of an overemphasized topic in medical school admissions? I had heard Adcoms say that unique is not such a concern as a propensity to be a good physician. Perhaps an emphasis on uniqueness in writing style rather than use of the term generally would be more productive. After all, adcoms do care that their matriculants do well in their premed coursework, love science and want to help people. What is needed is a more unique way of expressing these ideas, not an avoidance of these topics because they're "cliche." They're oft talked about for a reason! Click to expand...

hoihaie said: it's probably very hard to be "unique" with 50 thousand applicants. Someone is bound to have the same story as you... Click to expand...

Projection Room above the Auditorium

Could you elaborate on how you would exactly "show, not tell" what you've learned from an experience while also not repeating an AAMCAS activity? I feel like I've done a good job of "showing" in my PS, but I've definitely had to explain or give a little background of an activity that I'm going to mention in my application. I learned a lot from that activity, and I've changed a lot because of it. So I shouldn't put it in my PS? Sorry, just a little confused.  

ridethecliche

Meep meep meep.

• May 8, 2015

Dang, I was left out of this one, eh @Alejandro ? One of my favorite editing tips is to tell people to read the personal statement out loud. If you're running out of breath while reading a sentence, it's probably a run on or just exhausting to read as well. Reading it out loud also brings out weird syntax issues. Completely agree with the users that advised writers to avoid big words they don't understand. I refused to read some PS's because it was clear that someone went through with a thesaurus and the language makes absolutely no sense because the writer is attempting to make every other word a buzzword they think they're obligated to use. Also bears repeating that this is a personal statement for medical school. While there may be many notable things about you that you can talk about to show your character, this statement needs to answer 'why medicine'. If you can't make an explicit connection, then you should save the topic for a secondary essay. There are so many personal statements I've read that were well written, but would miss the target audience because the author didn't bother to make a concrete connection.  

ridethecliche said: Dang, I was left out of this one, eh @Alejandro ? Click to expand...

Alejandro said: Ahhhh! Ooops. Sorry! My bad! If its any consolation, when I found out that I forgot you, I looked like your avatar.... But thanks for your input! Click to expand...

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-warnings-from-democrats-about-project-2025-and-donald-trump

Fact-checking warnings from Democrats about Project 2025 and Donald Trump

This fact check originally appeared on PolitiFact .

Project 2025 has a starring role in this week’s Democratic National Convention.

And it was front and center on Night 1.

WATCH: Hauling large copy of Project 2025, Michigan state Sen. McMorrow speaks at 2024 DNC

“This is Project 2025,” Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, said as she laid a hardbound copy of the 900-page document on the lectern. “Over the next four nights, you are going to hear a lot about what is in this 900-page document. Why? Because this is the Republican blueprint for a second Trump term.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has warned Americans about “Trump’s Project 2025” agenda — even though former President Donald Trump doesn’t claim the conservative presidential transition document.

“Donald Trump wants to take our country backward,” Harris said July 23 in Milwaukee. “He and his extreme Project 2025 agenda will weaken the middle class. Like, we know we got to take this seriously, and can you believe they put that thing in writing?”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, has joined in on the talking point.

“Don’t believe (Trump) when he’s playing dumb about this Project 2025. He knows exactly what it’ll do,” Walz said Aug. 9 in Glendale, Arizona.

Trump’s campaign has worked to build distance from the project, which the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, led with contributions from dozens of conservative groups.

Much of the plan calls for extensive executive-branch overhauls and draws on both long-standing conservative principles, such as tax cuts, and more recent culture war issues. It lays out recommendations for disbanding the Commerce and Education departments, eliminating certain climate protections and consolidating more power to the president.

Project 2025 offers a sweeping vision for a Republican-led executive branch, and some of its policies mirror Trump’s 2024 agenda, But Harris and her presidential campaign have at times gone too far in describing what the project calls for and how closely the plans overlap with Trump’s campaign.

PolitiFact researched Harris’ warnings about how the plan would affect reproductive rights, federal entitlement programs and education, just as we did for President Joe Biden’s Project 2025 rhetoric. Here’s what the project does and doesn’t call for, and how it squares with Trump’s positions.

Are Trump and Project 2025 connected?

To distance himself from Project 2025 amid the Democratic attacks, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he “knows nothing” about it and has “no idea” who is in charge of it. (CNN identified at least 140 former advisers from the Trump administration who have been involved.)

The Heritage Foundation sought contributions from more than 100 conservative organizations for its policy vision for the next Republican presidency, which was published in 2023.

Project 2025 is now winding down some of its policy operations, and director Paul Dans, a former Trump administration official, is stepping down, The Washington Post reported July 30. Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita denounced the document.

WATCH: A look at the Project 2025 plan to reshape government and Trump’s links to its authors

However, Project 2025 contributors include a number of high-ranking officials from Trump’s first administration, including former White House adviser Peter Navarro and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

A recently released recording of Russell Vought, a Project 2025 author and the former director of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, showed Vought saying Trump’s “very supportive of what we do.” He said Trump was only distancing himself because Democrats were making a bogeyman out of the document.

Project 2025 wouldn’t ban abortion outright, but would curtail access

The Harris campaign shared a graphic on X that claimed “Trump’s Project 2025 plan for workers” would “go after birth control and ban abortion nationwide.”

The plan doesn’t call to ban abortion nationwide, though its recommendations could curtail some contraceptives and limit abortion access.

What’s known about Trump’s abortion agenda neither lines up with Harris’ description nor Project 2025’s wish list.

Project 2025 says the Department of Health and Human Services Department should “return to being known as the Department of Life by explicitly rejecting the notion that abortion is health care.”

It recommends that the Food and Drug Administration reverse its 2000 approval of mifepristone, the first pill taken in a two-drug regimen for a medication abortion. Medication is the most common form of abortion in the U.S. — accounting for around 63 percent in 2023.

If mifepristone were to remain approved, Project 2025 recommends new rules, such as cutting its use from 10 weeks into pregnancy to seven. It would have to be provided to patients in person — part of the group’s efforts to limit access to the drug by mail. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge to mifepristone’s FDA approval over procedural grounds.

WATCH: Trump’s plans for health care and reproductive rights if he returns to White House The manual also calls for the Justice Department to enforce the 1873 Comstock Act on mifepristone, which bans the mailing of “obscene” materials. Abortion access supporters fear that a strict interpretation of the law could go further to ban mailing the materials used in procedural abortions, such as surgical instruments and equipment.

The plan proposes withholding federal money from states that don’t report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention how many abortions take place within their borders. The plan also would prohibit abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid funds. It also calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that the training of medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, omits abortion training.

The document says some forms of emergency contraception — particularly Ella, a pill that can be taken within five days of unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy — should be excluded from no-cost coverage. The Affordable Care Act requires most private health insurers to cover recommended preventive services, which involves a range of birth control methods, including emergency contraception.

Trump has recently said states should decide abortion regulations and that he wouldn’t block access to contraceptives. Trump said during his June 27 debate with Biden that he wouldn’t ban mifepristone after the Supreme Court “approved” it. But the court rejected the lawsuit based on standing, not the case’s merits. He has not weighed in on the Comstock Act or said whether he supports it being used to block abortion medication, or other kinds of abortions.

Project 2025 doesn’t call for cutting Social Security, but proposes some changes to Medicare

“When you read (Project 2025),” Harris told a crowd July 23 in Wisconsin, “you will see, Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.”

The Project 2025 document does not call for Social Security cuts. None of its 10 references to Social Security addresses plans for cutting the program.

Harris also misleads about Trump’s Social Security views.

In his earlier campaigns and before he was a politician, Trump said about a half-dozen times that he’s open to major overhauls of Social Security, including cuts and privatization. More recently, in a March 2024 CNBC interview, Trump said of entitlement programs such as Social Security, “There’s a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting.” However, he quickly walked that statement back, and his CNBC comment stands at odds with essentially everything else Trump has said during the 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump’s campaign website says that not “a single penny” should be cut from Social Security. We rated Harris’ claim that Trump intends to cut Social Security Mostly False.

Project 2025 does propose changes to Medicare, including making Medicare Advantage, the private insurance offering in Medicare, the “default” enrollment option. Unlike Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans have provider networks and can also require prior authorization, meaning that the plan can approve or deny certain services. Original Medicare plans don’t have prior authorization requirements.

The manual also calls for repealing health policies enacted under Biden, such as the Inflation Reduction Act. The law enabled Medicare to negotiate with drugmakers for the first time in history, and recently resulted in an agreement with drug companies to lower the prices of 10 expensive prescriptions for Medicare enrollees.

Trump, however, has said repeatedly during the 2024 presidential campaign that he will not cut Medicare.

Project 2025 would eliminate the Education Department, which Trump supports

The Harris campaign said Project 2025 would “eliminate the U.S. Department of Education” — and that’s accurate. Project 2025 says federal education policy “should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.” The plan scales back the federal government’s role in education policy and devolves the functions that remain to other agencies.

Aside from eliminating the department, the project also proposes scrapping the Biden administration’s Title IX revision, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also would let states opt out of federal education programs and calls for passing a federal parents’ bill of rights similar to ones passed in some Republican-led state legislatures.

Republicans, including Trump, have pledged to close the department, which gained its status in 1979 within Democratic President Jimmy Carter’s presidential Cabinet.

In one of his Agenda 47 policy videos, Trump promised to close the department and “to send all education work and needs back to the states.” Eliminating the department would have to go through Congress.

What Project 2025, Trump would do on overtime pay

In the graphic, the Harris campaign says Project 2025 allows “employers to stop paying workers for overtime work.”

The plan doesn’t call for banning overtime wages. It recommends changes to some Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, regulations and to overtime rules. Some changes, if enacted, could result in some people losing overtime protections, experts told us.

The document proposes that the Labor Department maintain an overtime threshold “that does not punish businesses in lower-cost regions (e.g., the southeast United States).” This threshold is the amount of money executive, administrative or professional employees need to make for an employer to exempt them from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In 2019, the Trump’s administration finalized a rule that expanded overtime pay eligibility to most salaried workers earning less than about $35,568, which it said made about 1.3 million more workers eligible for overtime pay. The Trump-era threshold is high enough to cover most line workers in lower-cost regions, Project 2025 said.

The Biden administration raised that threshold to $43,888 beginning July 1, and that will rise to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025. That would grant overtime eligibility to about 4 million workers, the Labor Department said.

It’s unclear how many workers Project 2025’s proposal to return to the Trump-era overtime threshold in some parts of the country would affect, but experts said some would presumably lose the right to overtime wages.

Other overtime proposals in Project 2025’s plan include allowing some workers to choose to accumulate paid time off instead of overtime pay, or to work more hours in one week and fewer in the next, rather than receive overtime.

Trump’s past with overtime pay is complicated. In 2016, the Obama administration said it would raise the overtime to salaried workers earning less than $47,476 a year, about double the exemption level set in 2004 of $23,660 a year.

But when a judge blocked the Obama rule, the Trump administration didn’t challenge the court ruling. Instead it set its own overtime threshold, which raised the amount, but by less than Obama.

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5 Takeaways from the ‘Love Island U.S.A.’ Season 6 Reunion

After a chaotic and fun season, even more drama unfolded on social media in the weeks that followed. This Peacock special broke everything down.

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By Shivani Gonzalez

This summer’s season of “Love Island U.S.A.” has been the most popular of the franchise so far. And, if it feels like everyone is talking about it, it’s because they probably are — during the second week of July, this show was the most watched streaming original series in the U.S. , according to Luminate, an entertainment data tracking service. That means it outranked “The Bear.”

Because of the season’s popularity, it made sense for the show to have its first ever reunion special. Hosted by Ariana Madix, whose training included being grilled by Andy Cohen during her many “Vanderpump Rules” reunions, the show featured 25 Islanders — both OGs and Casa Amor — discussing not only what went on during the season but also all the messy drama that has unfolded on social media in the weeks after the show aired.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from the reunion.

Full footage of the firepit vote between Serena Page, Olivia Walker, Leah Kateb and Kaylor Martin is revealed.

One of the biggest and longest running dramas in the villa this season had to do with the dumping of Andrea Carmona. At the time, Carmona was coupled up with Rob Rausch, who had just gotten out of a couple with Leah Kateb.

A handful of the women in the villa had to decide whom to dump between Carmona, Nicole Jacky or JaNa Craig.

The decision to send Carmona home caused many fights, including one during which Martin and Walker told Rausch that Kateb had been the one pushing to send Carmona home — and this information discouraged Rausch from recoupling with Kateb. Kateb maintained that she “tried to take a back seat” in the decision making.

Throughout and following the season, viewers asked on social media why the show didn’t just air the entire unedited footage of the four women making the decision, instead of allowing a seemingly endless “he-said-she-said.”

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College of Arts & Sciences

The basic question to be addressed in the essay is why you want to be a doctor/dentist/medical professional and to supply evidence that you are prepared for that journey. 

The personal essay follows the same format as is required for the AMCAS/AACOMAS or AADSAS application.   AMCAS: 5300 characters with spaces, which is approximately one page. AACOMAS: 5300 characters with spaces AADSAS: 4500 characters with spaces

For many applicants the personal essay is the most difficult part of the application. This may be challenging for you to articulate at first and you should avoid the obvious cliche “I want to help people.”  Your message can be conveyed through your personal story which is rooted in your real experiences and reflection on those experiences.  But you also need to be careful of getting carried away by storytelling, and overly dramatic and emotionally overwrought text.  Keep your writing professional and succinct. Start early, give yourself plenty of time for some self-exploration, write often, and share your essay with your peers and/or advisors.

How to prepare over your four years:

• Throughout college keep a record and deeply reflect on memorable interactions with patients, mentees, research, leadership and volunteering experiences. You will use some of these stories later in your essay(s).
• Reflect on the impact your family, friends and early life experiences had on your desire to pursue a career in the health profession.
• Attend and/or review the workshop Powerpoint on the personal statement, the Writing Center workshop, and attend the peer-to-peer essay feedback workshop during the writing stage.
• Receive feedback on your essay from the Pre-Health Advising office in the spring before the application cycle opens.
• Ask for feedback from peers, mentors, family and the Writing Center.